Chapter 52
Tom holstered his sidearm, hurrying to the water’s edge. He hadn’t expected to take a dip tonight, but that girl—or man, or whatever was the deal with this whole time travel crap—was in a bad situation, and it looked like he was the only one here to help. The apparition of his brother nearby was not going to be able to do much, certainly.
As he prepared to dive upon the woman holding the defenceless victim under the surface, Sam’s voice piped up urgently. “Tom, behind you!”
This was followed closely by the distinct sound of a shotgun being pumped.
“You better hold still now,” a gruff male voice with a southern accent said. “Hands up. Won’t ask twice.”
Grimacing, Tom raised his hands.
“Turn around, nice and slow.”
Tom did as commanded, but the sound of Ben’s legs thrashing violently in the water made him seriously regret doing so.
Now facing the mystery man—the bright headlights behind him made it difficult to see what he looked like—Tom tried to assess the situation. Rifle wasn’t close enough to grab and redirect. If he reached for his gun he would be shot in the chest before he could pull it from the holster. Sam was nowhere in sight.
He was in a bind.
“Now step aside an’ let my lovely wife win a soul for Heaven.”
“You’re her husband? And you’re in on this too?” Tom was incredulous. One nutcase, sure. But two, married to each other? Goddamn.
“We’re a traditional Christian household,” the man said. “I’m the head. Ain’t nothin’ my woman does I don’t approve first.” He looked over Tom’s shoulder. “Ain’t that right, sweetheart?”
The sound of a gasping breath came from the water, and Tom hoped desperately that was Ben getting in some much needed air. The look of disappointment on the man’s face seemed to suggest it might have been.
But Ben could only fight for so long.
Sam, where are you, little brother?
* * *
“We’re nearly there,” Sam said, taking a sharp turn towards the waterside and mounting the kerb.
Addison nodded, cracking her knuckles. “Right. What’s the plan? We flank her? Close in from either side?”
“You’re gonna make yourself scarce is the plan. I promised your Mom I’d protect you.”
“Oh, come on.” Addison scowled at her grandfather. Didn’t he have any faith in her? “I can help!”
Sam gave her a pained look. “Please, don’t argue. This is life or death, Addison. It’s bad enough Janis is in this kind of danger. Keep hidden in the shadows and only come out if you have absolutely no other choice.”
Addison huffed, crossing her arms. “Fine, but I decide when that is.”
Sam pursed his lips. After a moment, he let out a breath. “Okay. Deal.”
The car came to a stop, and Addison became aware of bright lights on the other side of the bushes. As she and Sam jumped out of the car, crouching as they moved to peer through the leaves, a voice came from behind.
“She’s not alone.”
Addison spun around to see the older Sam, looking at them with severe worry.
“She?” the younger Sam said. “You mean Mary-Sue?”
“Yeah. Her husband’s here too, and he’s got a gun. He’s holding Tom hostage, and she’s got Ben under the water. He won’t last much longer.”
“So we work together,” Addison said.
Sam looked hesitant, but he knew full well there was no time to argue.
“Okay. Let’s move.”
* * *
“On your knees,” the man said to Tom, gesturing with the barrel of the shotgun.
Tom slowly lowered himself. “You gonna kill me too, are you?”
“Well, we can either do it afore or after you accept Jesus into your heart. I recommend the latter.”
“How are you so casual about this?!”
“You think this is the first time we done this?” The man snorted. “Hey, Mary-Sue! How many souls we saved now?”
“I’m busy, Billy!” Mary-Sue snapped. The distraction gave Ben another chance to resurface and gasp for air. “Oh, look what you made me do!”
Billy shrugged. “Four, I think. ’Course my Mama was dyin’ anyway.”
“You’re sick.”
“Just doin’ the Lord’s work. You said yer prayers yet?”
“Bite me.” Tom wasn’t going to give these maniacs the satisfaction of thinking they’d saved his soul, though he was silently praying for help.
“Well, your loss.” He aimed the gun at Tom’s face, and Tom squeezed his eyes shut. So this was it, huh? Sam had saved his life once, but apparently he was destined to lose it once more.
The shotgun discharged, and Tom jumped—but his face was notably still attached to his head. He opened his eyes, to see his brother very efficiently disarming Billy with some well-placed martial arts moves.
“Sam!” Apparently he’d redirected the shot at the last second. Talk about timing.
Sam quickly unloaded the shotgun, throwing it away from them. “Tom, keep eyes on this guy.”
Tom nodded, retrieving his own gun from its holster and training it on Billy. “Your turn to put your hands up, asshole.”
“Let her go right now,” Sam demanded, striding to the water’s edge. “It’s over. The police are on their way.”
He took a few steps into the water, wrenching Ben away from her and pulling him to the sand.
“No!” Mary-Sue screeched. “Don’t you understand? This is her only chance to reach Heaven! Don’t you care about this child’s eternal soul?!”
“I think God has other plans,” Sam said, inspecting the now-unconscious body before him and commencing CPR.
“Sam, look out!” Tom said, seeing Mary-Sue emerging from the water, a deep scowl on her face. She reached into her blouse and pulled out a large crucifix hanging around her neck, which she pulled at, unveiling a stiletto blade.
That’s gotta be sacrilegious.
Sam was still pumping at the chest of the—girl?—lying on the ground, not noticing the approaching danger.
“Sam—”
His warning was cut off by the ghostly apparition of the older Sam stepping into view, putting a finger to his lips. “Just wait.”
Sure enough, at the moment Mary-Sue began to telegraph her attempt to impale Sam, a black-clad Addison stepped out of the darkness and propelled herself into the unsuspecting murderer, toppling her back into the water.
“Hey, lady!” Addison said as they both emerged from under the surface. “You love Jesus, right? So—” She landed a sharp right hook into the woman’s face, causing her to drop her blade as she recoiled. “—why don’t you turn the other cheek!”
Mary-Sue clutched at her jaw, looking completely dumbfounded.
“How did all of you find me?” she demanded.
“Maybe God sent us,” Addison said flatly. “Because he sure as hell isn’t on your team, you murderer.”
“Sam, is she… he… okay?” Tom asked, looking down at the pale-faced Ben. As if to respond, he coughed up water and groaned, his eyelids fluttering.
“Remains to be seen,” Sam said. “But he’s alive. Which means Janis is alive.”
The flashing of red and blue lights through the bushes signalled the arrival of police, and Tom watched Sam help a dizzy-looking Ben to a sitting position.
The older Sam stepped up to Sam, quietly giving him some information from the weird computer thing in his hand.
Sam looked to Mary-Sue with a disdainful expression. “You think this teenage girl just trying to live her life is depraved, while you use your religion as justification for murder?”
“All sins are equal in the eyes of God,” Mary-Sue said, getting ever more wide-eyed with the realisation that her life was now effectively over. “And Jesus forgives even the lowliest sinner who puts their faith in Him.”
She felt around the shallows for her weapon, finally getting a hold of it and holding it against her wrist.
“Lord Jesus, forgive me for what I am about to do,” she whispered, and moved to thrust the spike into her vein.
But Sam grabbed her by the arm. “No!”
Mary-Sue attempted to pull away from his grip, but she was already exhausted.
“Don’t you understand?” he asked her. “Nobody has to die here. Nobody.”
“But I’m going to Heaven,” Mary-Sue argued, her eyes brimming with tears. “I would much rather go there than a prison cell.”
Sam shook his head. “I can’t say whether or not there’s a Heaven or Hell, and neither can you. What we know is right here and now, okay? Why don’t you put death aside, and start thinking about life for once?”
“Jesus died for us,” Mary-Sue countered. “Christianity is all about death.”
“Jesus raised people from the dead. Including himself, remember?”
“Well, he has got a point there,” Billy chimed in.
“Not you too, Billy!”
As the police closed in, Billy shook his head.
“Come on, Mary-Sue. Let’s face the music t’gether. Let Jesus take the wheel.”
“But we… we…”
“We always knew someday it might come to this.”
Mary-Sue dropped her weapon, bursting into tears. “I thought God was on our side.”
Tom watched with a loose jaw as his brother brought the murderous woman into a hug.
“I think this is exactly God’s plan,” he said, patting her on the back. “And he’s telling you that it’s time to stop all of this. Stop the hatred and death—it’s not the right way to serve him. It’s not too late to become a better person, even if you’re in prison, Mary-Sue.”
He let go of her, and she stared at him for a long moment, tears slipping down her face. Then she slowly stood up, raising her hands as the police swarmed the scene.
As she and Billy were being led away, Tom heard her tell him quietly, “Billy, I saw something in that man’s eyes. I think he might be an angel.”